Patrick Kelly emigrated from Co. Galway to Boston with his parents. In 1861 he enlisted in the 28th Massachusetts Infantry, an Irish regiment that ultimately served in the Irish Brigade. During his service he wrote frequently to his parents at home in Boston; the letters portray a young man who was a lover of music […]

On 17th May 1864, Colonel Richard Byrnes of the 28th Massachusetts Infantry paid an early morning visit to Father William Corby, Chaplain of the Irish Brigade. A regular army officer before the war, the strict disciplinarian had been appointed to command of the 28th in the autumn of 1862. Now, on the bloody battlefield of Spotsylvania Court […]

150 years ago this week the Battles of Second Bull Run and Chantilly were fought in Virginia. The engagements are amongst the least well-known of the 1862 clashes in the Eastern Theater, overshadowed as they are by the battles such as the Seven Days, Antietam and Fredericksburg. However for the 28th Massachusetts Infantry these […]

Color Sergeant Peter Welsh of the 28th Massachusetts Regiment has become one of the best known members of the Irish Brigade. The publication of his Civil War letters in 1986, under the title Irish Green and Union Blue, revealed the picture of a man devoted to the cause of Union. In the summer of 1862 he had […]